Tuesday night we reported on Stunning Apple. In a global economy that is ‘difficult’ to say the least, ‘stunning’ results from one player just must be reflected in some awful results elsewhere.
Tonight we saw two such casualities.
Nokia reported a loss for the quarter of a massive €1b with revenues down 21%. It was the relative failure of their new Lumia smartphones which was really concerning. Although Nokia only saw an 8% decline in total mobiles sold – they shipped 31% fewer smartphones. Nokia UK seems to have been particularly badly hit – maybe because they didn’t even have the Lunia 900 in their armoury. It looks as though Nokia’s users have deserted the ship – mostly to Apple.
Nintendo put out a profits warning – well actually they warned that losses (at $800m) would be three times what had previously been expected. Gamers seem to have given up on the Wii console. That was already an established trend but Nintendo expected the handheld DS – particularly the 3D version – to compensate. Problem is that the iPhone and the iPad have really taken over in that space. I was pretty amazed at how much DS games cost for my band of youngsters this Christmas. iPad games cost a few £s – DS games £20+. I just don’t get it. On top of that, I think that 3D – in both TVs and handhelds – is going to be a non market. It makes me, for one, feel ill.
I know that ‘Diversity of Performance’ has been one of our longest running themes but the contrast between Nokia & Nintendo v Apple is about as stark as they come. Last week we reported on Kodak filing for Chapter 11. I’m sure many more will share the Kodak Moment in the year to come.